


It's Not Your Fault. (I Promise.)

by orphan_account



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Abduction, Anxiety, Autistic Kynan Leore, Child Abuse, Feral Behavior, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Not Canon Compliant, Panic Attacks, Psychological Torture, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Torture, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 08:42:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Percy's drugged, abducted, and then subjected to a horrifying sight all in one night and Kynan Leore, the apparently 14-year-old boy who never wanted to be a hero, has a knack for knowing things he shouldn't. He reads people like books and Ripley had apparently scripted Kynan's introduction with Vox Machina to find out their secrets.When Kynan refuses to talk...well, Ripley has very creative ideas for making him and Percival's there to witness it all.But it's fine. Kynan is certain that it's fine because she's put him through much worse to get what she wanted before.(Alternately; When Percy's taken in the dead of night and thrown into one of Anna Ripley's cells, he did not expect to find a familiar face. Vox Machina thought they were keeping Kynan Leore safe by turning him down. But Kynan hasn't been safe in years, being a tool of Ripley's.)





	It's Not Your Fault. (I Promise.)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UsernamesAreARepresentationOfTheSoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsernamesAreARepresentationOfTheSoul/gifts).



> Kynan's aged to 14 and he's been a tool of Ripley's for over three years. He doesn't have magical powers or anything...probably. IDK.  
> He's good at reading people to the point that he can tell some of your darkest and well-hidden secrets within minutes of meeting you.  
> Ripley has hurt him in so many ways, but the worst was something Percival didn't get to see...and Kynan plans on keeping it that way.

"Freddie, you want another round?" Vax'ildan asks Percival, completely shitfaced.

"Vex, can I count on you to watch all of them?" Percy asks the sober twin. She quickly replies, "'Course. Go get some sleep."

"Thanks. And, uh, can you make sure Vax doesn't do anything too serious," Percival asks her. She laughs and teases him, "Somebody's getting jealous."

Percy blushes and elbows her lightly in the arm. "Sleep," she demands and he complies, swaying slightly on his way to his room.

He locks the door once he's inside and makes sure the window's closed and locked before flopping on his bed with a groan. He lies in his bed, waiting for sleep to take him, and eventually, it does. He sleeps dreamlessly, for once, and no nightmares plague him. Really, that should be a bad sign in itself.

Once he 's completely unconscious, the lock on the window opens with a few near-silent clicks and it's quietly opened. The figure, Anna Ripley, steps inside and injects him with a potion she's created herself with the strongest sleep-inducing plants she could find. She lifts him up with a grunt before carrying him through the ridiculously large window with ease. When she's outside, she hands the gunslinger to one of her guards and they set off after she closes the window.

They arrive at the manor Ripley recently purchased from one of her acquaintances and she has the burly guard carry the man down the steps to where the cells are located. Not bothering to separate her two prisoners, she opens the cell to reveal her other prisoner sound asleep.

'Good,' she thinks to herself, 'It means less trouble for now.'

She orders her guard, "Throw him in."

The man, looking to please his lady, throws Percy so hard that he collides with the far wall. Ripley looks at him and grins, telling him, "Excellent job."

He bows and they both head back upstairs, not noticing the now awake boy cautiously approaching Percival's unconscious form.

The child rolls the man over onto his back and elevates his head on the boy's leg. He shakes the man's shoulder to no avail and concludes that he's been drugged. Kynan, who 's dealt with Ripley's drugging before, has already created a counter-agent to wake himself when he feels the drowsiness from her injections.

Of course, Ripley doesn't know that; she doesn't need to either. Kynan picks up the counter-agent and pricks the man's upper arm with the needle. After around five minutes, Percival de Rolo begins to stir.

Kynan shakes the man's shoulder again and this time he wakes with a jolt, tensing immediately at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Kynan quickly scoots away from the man and into the far corner where it's darkest. Percy groans and sits up, clutching his throbbing head in his hands.

"Where are we?" Percival asks the boy, but the child does not reply.

Percy looks at him and tries again, a bit louder this time, "Where are w-"

 _"Quiet,"_ the boy hisses, _"She's coming."_

The boy turns slightly and Percy can make out bruised hand-marks on his throat and the dark purple bags underneath his eyes when the light shines on his face.

He listens to the near-silent sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs towards them. When Anna Ripley opens the door and both prisoners tense, muscles pulling taught. She moves to one corner of the room and lights a small fire that grows rapidly.

"Kynan," Ripley practically purrs, "It's your turn."

Percy recognizes the name and he runs it through his recent memories. He recalls a young teen outside Greyskull Keep and he winces at the thought that this _child_ is with Ripley. Percy's frozen in fear and Ripley's guard uses this moment to bind his arms and legs with rope, slipping a gag into his mouth. Kynan's eyes shine in his terror-filled state, but his face quickly loses all expression as Ripley literally drags him like a rag doll over to a table in the far corner of the room.

She makes him lay down and restrains him with metal and leather straps on his wrists and ankles. Percy stares, horrified, as Ripley pulls out a blade.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is her name?" Ripley questions and Kynan says nothing.

She makes an incision from his ear along his jaw and Kynan doesn't react.

"Tell me, Kynan, what's her name?" Ripley demands again. Kynan says nothing and she cuts him three times this time.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is her name?" Ripley interrogates and he says nothing. She cuts him nine times and he lets out a strangled whimper on the eighth and ninth cuts when Ripley cuts a circle around his ear and slits open the boy's lip.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is her name?" Ripley demands and Kynan, miraculously still says nothing. Ripley sets the blade aside and lifts what Percy recognizes as a whip. She cuts off his shirt, picking up the blade again and he stays silent.

She lets the whip crack down on across his chest and Kynan grits his teeth.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is her name?" she repeats the question, again and again, each time rewarding his silence with more exposure to the whip. At some point, he lets out strangled sobs and he finally breaks when she cracks it down again.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is her name?"

Percy can barely make out the quiet, "Vex'ahlia."

When he does, the man's horrified. Who would've thought that by turning the boy away he'd end up in much more pain than before?

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her fears?" she asks and Kynan says nothing, clearly upset with the break in his silence.

This time, she pulls out what Percival can see is a branding iron. She moves and holds it in the fire for a minute and presses the brand into the boy's upper arm. He screams when she presses harder into his flesh and Percy winces in his forcedly silent sympathy.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her fears?"

Kynan says nothing and Ripley holds the branding iron in the fire again. She looms over him and presses the branding into his throat. Kynan shrieks louder than before, writhing against the restraints.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her fears?" she demands and Kynan breaks again.

"Spiders," he rasps, "Darkness. Maggots. Helplessness. Fire. Sensory deprivation."

Percy knows these to be true and he remains confused as to how Kynan knows this.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her weaknesses?" she inquires and Kynan says nothing.

She lights a torch in the fire and presses it into the child's arm until he screams, tugging against the restraints while his back arches.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her weaknesses?"

Nothing but silence.

She presses the torch against his ribs and he shrieks louder and louder with each passing second. Ripley holds it there for forty-five seconds.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her weaknesses?"

Nothing. Again.

She brings the torch down on his throat and he can't even scream at this point.

"Tell me, Kynan, what are her weaknesses?"

Kynan breaks again and he chokes out, "Her brother. Her ears. Her pride. Her friends. Her family."

She looks at him and says, "Good work, Kynan. Now, what do you say?"

"Thank you," he rasps out and she unties the restraints before pulling him to his feet. He crumples, his legs giving out, and he topples to the floor with a hiss.

"I'll see you both later," she says quietly before leaving the cells and heading up the stairs, "And, Kynan? We'll work on the brother tomorrow."

Kynan shifts closer to Percy, taking off the gag and unties his bindings when he's sure Ripley's gone.

The minute the gunslinger's free Kynan scoots away, quickly retreating to his corner.

"Kynan?" Percy questions and the boy flinches at the noise.

Percy contemplates moving toward the boy but ultimately decides against it lest he scares the teen. Kynan huddles in the corner, trembling so violently that Percy worries for a moment or two that he might be having a seizure. Slowly, the child's eyes begin to close for longer and longer until his breathing evens out.

Percival decides that no matter what _he will protect this child._

After a few hours of lying in the dark and reveling in the silence, Percy falls into a dreamless sleep.

__________________________________________________________________________

When he wakes, he's bound and gagged again and it's the shrieking that wakes him up. He looks up to find Kynan again strapped to the table.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is his name?" Ripley demands, a lethal edge in her voice.

Kynan says nothing.

The woman drips a drop acid on the boy's throat and he shrieks again.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is his name?"

Nothing, again.

Ripley drips three drops this time, but it's fine. Kynan's certain that this is fine because she's put him through much worse.

'Besides,' the boy muses internally, 'It's not enough to damage my voice.'

His screams only prove that.

"Tell me, Kynan, what is his name?" she asks once more, but the child says nothing.

Six drops this time, the maximum amount before it does damage his voice and destroy his oesophagus.

He screeches so loudly he's sure that the guards upstairs can hear him loud and clear.

"Stop," he begs, "Please, please, stop."

"Tell me, Kynan, what is his name?"

"Vax'ildan."

"Tell me, Kynan, what are his fears?"

Percy looks at the broken teen as he croaks, "Betrayal. Water. Death. Helplessness. Sensory deprivation."

"Tell me, Kynan, what are his weaknesses?" she inquires, but Kynan clamps his jaw shut.

She sighs and tells him, "You could be so much, Kynan. You just have to learn and stop this ridiculous behaviour."

She sets the dripper of acid down and picks up a syringe. Once Kynan spots it he starts to plead with her as horror covers his features.

"Please. God, please. Please don't. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryimsorryimso-" she cuts off his frantic rambling by jabbing it into his upper arms and he stops speaking; instead, he writhes. He screams and screams and screams. Ripley looks down at him and scoffs, "Pathetic."

She unties both of them and throws the screaming boy to the ground before leaving. She calls over her shoulder, "I'll be back later, Kynan, and I fully expect an answer."

He doesn't stop screaming for hours, his voice never fading, until he's screamed and sobbed himself to sleep.

Percival doesn't dare approach the boy, lest he terrifies him further or jolts him out of his restless sleep.

Kynan thrashes in his sleep, tugging against invisible hands, and he wakes up with a gasp. Percy looks him in the eyes and knows that, in a few seconds, the screaming will continue. Kynan blinks rapidly before a wave of pain cascades upon him and he shrieks.

His screams echo through the halls and Kynan curls himself into a ball as if he could escape the pain inside him.

When the pain finally subsides, panic takes its place. The child's breath hitches and he frantically backs up from the man. Percy puts his hands up to show he means no harm, but the boy flinches at the movement. After a few hours of Percy whispering phrases he has used to soothe and support his friends in their times of need, the boy scoots closer and his breathing is deeper.

It's not a lot, only a foot or two, but Percival's willing to take whatever he can get. He continues talking quietly and, ten minutes later, Kynan moves closer again. This time, his breathing is slower as well. Ten more minutes and the teen's only a few feet away from the man and his breaths are normal and paced.

Kynan reaches out slowly and hesitantly, but Percy makes no move to stop him. The boy touches the top of his head and runs his hand through the man's relatively clean hair. Percy watches him and Kynan hums lightly, smiling smally at the contact.

"It's so soft," he whispers to himself with wide eyes and Percy chuckles a bit. This time, Kynan doesn't flinch at the noise or shy away from the man. He keeps running his hand through the man's hair and smiles a little.

When they hear the sudden sound of footsteps, Kynan frantically scrambles back to his corner. When the gate swings open, Vex'ahlia calls out, "Percy? Are you in here?"

"Thank god," Percival breathes and she turns to the man. He chokes on a sob and he repeats, "Thank god."

Vax'ildan notices movement in the corner of his eye and he turns to see an indiscernible form in the corner. He takes a step toward it and the figure growls, low and feral like a wild animal. Vax takes a few more steps forward and the person hisses like a cat, pressing against the wall as if they could carve out more space to hide in.

"Kid," Percy rasps, "It's okay. They won't hurt you. You're safe now."

At that, Kynan cackles like Percy's said the funniest thing in the world. Percival motions Vax backwards and the man complies, realizing that this situation requires tact that he apparently doesn’t have.

"You'll be alright. We'll get you out of here," Percy tells him and the child flinches backwards at the man's slow approach.

"Do you trust me?" Percival asks quietly and, after a moment of consideration, Kynan nods jerkily.

"Okay," Percy instructs, "Come here."

Kynan recognizes the order for what it is and he crawls forward inch by inch until he's on the ground by Percival's feet.

"Kynan," Vax breathes when he sees the face of the boy and the child scrambles backwards with a hiss.

"Is he-" Vax starts, a horrified look on his face, "Is he _scared_ of me?"

Percival looks him in the eye and tells him, "He's scared of everyone. You and your sister especially so."

"What? _Why_?" Vex asks, confusion written on her features. Percy states, "You don't want to know."

Percy turns back to Kynan and tells him, "They won't hurt you and Ripley won't either."

Kynan shakes his head and Percy asks, "Do you want to get out of here?"

The child looks at him and questions, "Leave? I can leave? Are you sure? I don't think she'll like that. It'll make her angry and you don't want to see Ripley when she's angry."

"Don't worry about that. Ripley won't be a problem, Kynan," Vex'ahlia says and Kynan notes, "You're going to try to kill her."

"Indeed," Percy admits and Kynan replies, "Her left knee is weak and she can't hear well out of her right ear. Her peripherals don't function correctly and she's scared of blades and poison. The best way to take her out is the poison she uses. It would kill her. I know where-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Percy stops him, "Why would it kill her and not you?"

Kynan smiles smally and replies bitterly, "She's not used to it."

**Author's Note:**

> This is shit, absolute shit. I am sooooo sorry about this. (O_o)


End file.
